Many people around the world might not familiar with chikoo. But the different way in Asia. This common fruit that grows in many countries is quite favorable. With the small size of the fruit and authentic taste that feels good in the mouth, chikoo is quite common to find in the traditional market. Additionally, the tree is commonly grown in the backyard and usually result in an enormous number of fruits.
Chikoo (Sapodilla) Tree
Chikoo tree can include as an easy grow tree in various countries. Therefore, it’s common to see the tree cultivates in many places. Mainly in a country with tropical weather such as Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh and including in Indonesia. This tree is also known and famous with sapodilla.
For those who do not really know the sapodilla tree looks like, it’s usually can grow up to 30 meters and the diameters can up to 1.5 meters. The leaves are medium green and also look glossy. While the fruit is brown in color with the flesh a little bit to orange color. The fruit taste very sweet and malty. Usually, in a year, it can produce fruit twice. Inside the fruit, usually, there are several black seeds.
How to Uses Chikoo (Sapodilla) Fruit
There are various ways to consume chikoo fruit and feel the advantages. If want to know further, below are some lists of how to use chikoo fruit and gain the benefits.
1. Direct Consume
It is the easier way to get the ripe fruit and consume it directly. Make sure to clean it first before peeling the skin and then consume the flesh.
2. Making a Cake
Some creative people mix the flesh with several ingredients and produce a cake through baking or steam it. It can be mix with nuts or almond and can be used as a single ingredient too.
3. Infused Water
The fruit also suitable for making as infused water. Even this might not quite common, but it has done by several people and still can bring good taste and a good benefit.
4. Fruit Salad
Cut some chikoo flesh and mix with other fruit. Mix it with low calories yogurt and it can serve as a yummy fruit salad.
5. Juice or Milkshake
Another common way is to produce chikoo juice or even to make a milkshake with chikoo flesh. The milkshake usually a combination of chocolate or vanilla ice cream. While the juice can be using a single chikoo fruit or mix with other ingredients.
6. As Syrup
Some people with certain medical condition making chikoo fruit as the ingredients for chikoo syrup. Therefore, it also able to produce a delicious syrup too.
Chikoo (Sapodilla) Juice Recipes
For those who interest in making chikoo juice, there are several recipes to try. Below are the details of it.
- Recipe 1
Blend the chikoo fruit by choosing the ripe flesh. Avoid using the unripe flesh, otherwise the taste is plain. Mix it with some lemon extract to give several sour tastes to avoid the too sweet taste of it.
- Recipe 2
Mix chikoo fruit with other fruits such as banana, apple, avocado or pear. It will result in different taste when combining with different fruits. Therefore, to bring a different sensation of consuming chikoo fruit, always combine with different fruit everyday.
- Recipe 3
Blend the chikoo fruit with milk and sugar. This can produce a fullness feeling. Therefore, it can be one of the healthy snacks in the afternoon.
Health Benefits of Chikoo (Sapodilla) Fruit
Looking at the nutrient content of the fruit, it’s definitely can conclude that chikoo can bring many advantages. Below are some main benefits point list of chikoo fruit.
1. Add Energy
Chikoo fruit is high in calories and sugar. Therefore, it can help to provide more energy to support the daily activities. Additionally, it will help to avoid hunger and best to maintain energy level if consume for the breakfast.
2. Better Metabolism
The calories inside chikoo fruit will help to produce a better metabolism system. It will manage the body to increase the metabolic rate and bring to optimum converting of food into needed energy. That’s why it also stimulates the oxygen distribution along the body and lead to optimizing oxygen level in the brain.
3. High Fiber
Chikoo contains a high number of fibers too. Therefore, it can help to be a natural source of fiber and manage a better digestive system. When the digestive system run well, it means that the intestinal work quite optimum too. Hence, it can help to avoid any digestive problems.
4. Fasten Digest
An optimum digestive usually will lead to a fasten digest. It will regulate the intestinal bowel movement and create a fasten digest in the stomach. This is why consume chikoo will stimulate a better intestinal movement.
5. Promote Weight Loss
When the body metabolism and digestive system run quite well, then the body can absorb more nutrient from the food. This will make the body absorb various needed vitamins and minerals. This is one of the mechanisms of how the body will avoid fat gain and make the weight naturally reduce slowly. Hence, chikoo also one of the good alternatives to promote the weight loss.
6. Relief Constipation
Other unexpected health benefits and uses of chikoo (sapodilla) fruit and juice are to relieve any stomach problems. Including stomachache and also help to relieve constipation too. Where it’s common to happen when the stomach contains too much gasses. Through consume chikoo, it will help to absorb the gas and lead the stomach to feel better and avoid heartburn.
7. Avoid Inflammation
The nutrient inside chikoo fruit is able to avoid inflammation too. Especially the content of tannin inside the fruit that works to reduce the swollen inflame area and help to soothe the pain. Additionally, it can reduce the redness and bring a fasten recovery.
8. Improve Eye Vision
Chikoo fruit also contains vitamin A that will support the eye health. It can manage to produce a healthy vision and lead to avoid further eye infections. Hence, consume chikoo can maintain the vision for a longer period.
9. Anti-Bacterial
Not only benefit as an anti-inflammation, the fruit also good to act as an anti-bacterial agent. Therefore, it will help to avoid further bacteria infection to the body. In addition, this can help the body to avoid further diseases too. Since bacteria can lead to some infections such as stomach infection, brain infection and many more.
10. Increase Immune System
The vitamin C inside this fruit will bring to a better immunity. It will help to boost the immune system in a natural way. Therefore, it will lead to a better and stronger body to avoid further bacterial or virus infection.
11. Support Wellness
When the immunity increase, the body health will increase accordingly. Additionally, it can lead to a better body wellness that keeps away from any sickness. It will avoid any illness possibility and maintain to bring a strong healthy body.
12. Promote Healthy Hair
Not many people might understand that chikoo apparently also good to manage a healthy hair. It will lead to a healthy scalp surface and avoid further problems such as hair loss and dandruff. This is why many herbal shampoos also use chikoo as ingredients to bring the optimum advantage of the extract to produce a better hair shine and a healthier hair condition.
13. Avoid Skin Diseases
Since the fruit is capable to act as an anti-inflammation, it’s good to treat any skin inflammation too such as eczema. Additionally, it will help to create a smoother skin and avoid any acne appearance in the skin face area. Therefore, consume the fruit will lead to a healthy skin.
14. Anti-Oxidant
Chikoo fruit is a good anti-oxidant too. This will benefit the body to avoid any free radical effects that usually comes from pollutant or UV light. Therefore, it’s a good way to naturally avoid early aging signs and avoid to get disease symptoms.
15. Supports Children Growth
It is quite amazing that the fruit also good for the children. Specially to add the bone mass and support the children grow. Additionally, it will lead to a healthy body and avoid various illness for the children. By increase the children immune system, it can lead to a better child grow and develop.
Side Effects of Chikoo (Sapodilla) Fruit
Chikoo or Sapodilla bring many benefits, but on the other side, it gives several side effects too. Even this side effects are not happening in all people, still, it’s important to be careful. Hence, it’s better to see below cautions if this is your first time to try chikoo fruit.
- Watch out of any reactions of itchiness, rash or redness skin. This means that your body is allergic to the fruit. Therefore, it’s better to avoid consuming this fruit again in the future.
- This fruit tastes very sweet. Therefore, people with diabetes symptoms shall avoid consuming too much number of the fruits. Otherwise, it can easily increase the blood sugar level and lead to worst diabetic diseases.
- The sweet taste also can produce a sore throat. Therefore, keep controlling the number of fruits consume every day to avoid a sore throat happen.
- Clean the fruit well before consuming it to avoid the effect of the tannin and latex acid in its skin. Otherwise, it can result in mouth irritation and ulcer.
- Over consume also can lead to stomach problems, since the fruit is rich with fiber. Therefore, always consume in proper portions and avoid consuming the fruit too much.
Those all the health benefits and uses of chikoo (sapodilla) fruit and juice. Not only easy to find, apparently the fruit has many advantages for the health. Therefore, one of this exotic fruit is worth to consume many times. Additionally, do not worry about getting any difficulties to get the fruit. If you’re living in a tropical country, it will easily be grown in the backyard. Just make sure to understand first the way to grow the plant. Then, when the harvest season is coming, you can gain the benefit each day.